You Need To Grow Up
by McFizz
Summary: Amy had been in love with Sonic for years, and now she finally had a date with him? Amy didn't think her life could get much better. Meanwhile Shadow had lead a troubled childhood and was in danger of being expelled. As a punishment for his latest misdemeanor, Shadow was to tutor a younger girl with pink hair, but what he never expected was to care for the girl. AU ShadAmy
1. Prologue

This is an AU fic about the pairing of Shadow and Amy, at the beginning it will lean more to SonAmy, but this fic is about change.

The prologue is rated E, but future chapters will not be, so a T rating it is.

The Sonic universe and all of it's characters do not belong to me, if they did ShadAmy would be canon.

* * *

Fingers crossed, Amy waited fearfully for her test results. This test was worth 30% of her grade, she couldn't afford to have failed it, she was just scraping by as it was. If she failed this, her parents would be pissed, which would mean she wouldn't be able to go out with Sonic this weekend after all. Sonic… Just thinking about him made Amy blush. With his thick blue hair, and green eyes….. Sonic was dreamy, ever since middle school Amy had wanted nothing more than to be noticed by him, and now? After years of trying, he had finally agreed to go out with her!

But she was getting sidetracked again, and quickly refocused her mind on the current problem she faced. When the teacher got to her she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, and he quietly slipped the results onto her desk. No words of praise, no comments. Just slid it onto her desk and walked on. Bracing herself Amy peaked at the cause of her concern, and whimpered when she saw it. Below a big red D were the words "See me after school."

Slumping in her chair, Amy could barely pay attention for the rest of class. Eventually the bell rang for lunch, and Amy found herself making her way to the cafeteria with everyone else. Once there she perked up a bit—it was, after all, Tuesday. If Sonic was here, and a quick scan revealed that he was, that meant that he would be practising track after eating. Thinking of Sonic running picked Amy up and by the time she had gotten her food and joined her friends, she had forgotten all about her D.

"Uh oh, I recognize that face," a purple haired girl with yellow eyes teased as Amy approached. "We're watching Mr. Cool run again, aren't we?" Amy smiled, she'd met the girl, Blaze, last year when they were partnered up in science, she hadn't been very talkative at first, but eventually the two became friends. Nowadays they talked about anything and everything. Blaze's seriousness was a good contrast to Amy's excitable nature.

"Well if you insist, Blaze." Amy replied, chuckling at Blaze's expression. The two girls ate together for a bit, before being joined by a strawberry blond girl with child-like features. Cream was Amy's best friend, and next door neighbour; the two had grown up together. Cream had always been a really shy, quiet kid, and that was no different now. Amy knew she was also very kind though, and could be brave when the need arose. Cream was fourteen, only a year younger than Amy, but she could have easily been mistaken for a twelve year old. Keeping her hair in pigtails probably didn't help.

Only moments later Sonia and Rouge joined them. Sonia had grown up with Amy and Cream, and had spent a lot of time at Amy's with them, rather than staying home with her two brothers. One of those brothers being Sonic. Like her brother, Sonia was pretty athletic, though nowhere near as agile as Sonic. Over the years Sonia's interests had drifted towards fashion and boys, but that was fine.

Rouge was one of Sonia's classmates, the two had become friends in ninth grade. Amy didn't know Rouge very well, but they got on well enough. Rouge was sassy, and had a tendency to tease. She was also gorgeous, with a super curvy figure and hair white as snow. A lot of male students seemed to fall all over themselves for her, and Amy wished she were half as good with boys.

Eventually the five girls finished their lunches and headed out to watch Sonic and the other members of the track team practice.

"You know, if I wanted to watch my brother run, I'd spend more time with him at home." Sonia commented, as she did every Tuesday. Amy smiled, she and her friends had a routine.

Still, they watched. Watching Sonic run was breathtaking, as always. He was fast, and managed to look powerful and graceful all at once. None of the other boys could compare.

"So, Amy, how did your test go?" Cream finally asked.

Amy hung her head at the reminder. "I have to see Mr. Daniels after class," she replied.

"That bad, huh?" Blaze enquired sympathetically.

"I got a D."

"Damn, girl, history is not for you."

"Thanks, Rouge. That is exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Sorry, sorry," the white-haired girl placated. "But seriously, we need to do something about this."

"You don't think?"

"Sarcasm does not become you, Miss Rose," Rouge teased.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just really bummed, you know?"

After a moments silence, Amy grinned. "No big deal, I'll figure it out," Amy knew that her fake optimism wasn't fooling anybody, but thankfully her friends took the hint and the subject was changed. The girls sat there talking about their weekend plans and watching Sonic run until the bell rang, prompting them to head to their respective classes. Amy had English with Blaze next, so the two girls gathered their things and headed off together.

"Do you think your parents will still let you see Sonic on Friday?" Blaze asked softly.

Amy sighed, "I don't know. I hope so, I guess we'll see."

"Offer to do all of your homework Saturday and spend all of Sunday studying?" the purple haired girl suggested.

"Ugh, I guess that's a good idea."

The conversation died as the girls arrived in class and took their seats at the front of the room, settling in for today's poetry lesson. Blaze never liked to speak in class, so Amy was left to her thoughts mostly. There was one point maybe twenty minutes after lunch where Amy heard a ruckus down the hall, but other than that, the class passed by eventlessly.

After English was Home Economics, which Amy always looked forwards to. Today, they were making croissants. After Home Ec. was homeroom, and after that was the dreaded meeting with Mr. Daniels.

Amy made her way back to her History classroom, wringing her hands as she did so. "You wanted to see me, sir?" she squeaked, upon entering the classroom.

"Ahh, Amy. Come in, come in. Take a seat." As Mr. Daniels said this he beckoned her over and gestured to the seat next to his desk. Amy hastened to be seated; the quicker she could be done with this, the better. "Amy, the reason I asked to see you is because your mark was, well, less than satisfactory. At this rate, I'm afraid you may fail my course completely. You're a bright girl Amy, and I do not believe you want to be held back a year."

"No, sir," Amy responded, hanging her head as she did so.

"That's why I was wondering if you would like a tutor?"

Amy looked back up with a start, "a tutor, sir?"

"Yes, an older student who did well in this course who would go to your house twice a week and help you out. What do you think?"

Amy perked right up, "Could we really do that, sir?"

"If we couldn't do you think I'd be mentioning it?" the teacher replied with a good natured smile. And so it was decided that Amy would be tutored in History.

That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Rose were quite disappointed by Amy's grade, and told her she had to stay in for the weekend. But, following Blaze's advice, she convinced her father to let her go out with Sonic anyway, on the condition that she would do all her homework on Saturday and spend all of Sunday studying.

EARLIER THAT DAY

Shadow stared out the classroom window, a bored sigh escaping his lips. He knew all this, he shouldn't have to deal with reviewing subjects he already knew. All his courses were like that, though. They were all too easy, boring really. What Shadow wanted was a challenge. Something new to stimulate his brain. He knew he could just switch to a higher level course, but that didn't really appeal to him either. He liked his courses, as much as Shadow really liked anything, at least. They were familiar, easy, comfortable. Plus, new classes meant new people. New people meant someone might try to befriend him.

It wasn't that Shadow didn't want friends, he even had a person he considered a friend, and he enjoyed her company well enough. It was more that he didn't want to let anyone in. If he cared about anyone, he could get hurt. If he told them about himself, they could use the information to their advantage. In Shadow's experience, very few people were worth caring about, and so it was easier to just not get to know anyone. Was he missing out? Probably. Did he care? No. Though, to be fair, it was unlikely that anyone would approach him. Even some of the teachers were wary of him. In the past he had been prone to angry outbursts that could end violently. When he was 11, he had broken some kid's wrist for calling him gay. Sure, Shadow had calmed down considerably since then, with the help of his friend, but no one had dared try and find out. Well, except Manic, but Shadow didn't really know what to think of Manic.

When the lunch bell rang, Shadow made his way to the cafeteria to buy lunch, which he ate outside behind the gym with Manic. Manic had spikey green hair and was almost a friend. Manic would talk and Shadow would grunt his acknowledgement. Today Manic was talking about some CD or something he had stolen from the mall. Shadow didn't really care, honestly he didn't even know why Manic spoke to him. He never did anything to encourage it, he never so much as replied. Shadow knew Manic had other friends, but still the snarky thief insisted on talking to him.

Finally Manic said something that caught Shadow's attention. "We should totally go out some time." Manic had said, grinning impishly.

Shadow spluttered for a moment before turning to frown at his green haired almost-companion. "Beg pardon, I think I misheard." Disapproval was laced heavily through his voice.

"Relax dude, I was just seeing if you were listening to me." Manic soothed with a chuckle.

Shadow laughed awkwardly, "Not really," he admitted.

"Didn't think so. You never do. I like it, I can tell you anything and not have to worry about someone finding out."

"Like what?" Shadow enquired, curiosity piqued.

"No way, if you didn't hear anything I've told you over the past two years, it's not my fault." Shadow grunted. The boy had a point. But this time when Manic went back to talking, he actually paid attention to what was being said. He couldn't help himself.

After lunch was math. Oh joy. Shadow sat there, bored. He wasn't learning anything new, he never did. This was a waste of time. Shadow had better things he could be doing. Like actually better. At least at home he could do something productive. So why bother being here? He was wasting his time. With a frown Shadow stood up and headed to the door.

A throat cleared behind him, causing him to glance over his shoulder. "And where do you think you're going, young man?" his teacher wanted to know.

"Home." Shadow replied shortly, already turning to head out again.

"And why are you going home?" Mr. Jenkins prompted.

"Because you're boring me," was Shadow's reply.

"Get back to your seat." the teacher ordered, with an exasperated tone.

"Why?"

"Because if you don't I'm going to give you detention."

"Which I won't be here for."

"Then I'll suspend you." His heart didn't seem all that into it today, in fact his voice had an all too familiar resonance to it. Shadow recognized that tone, it was the tone of someone who no longer cared.

"Awesome, I won't have to come back," Shadow snarled, knowing it was unreasonable for him to be offended over something he could have easily prevented had he actually wanted to.

"In school suspension." Mr. Jenkins didn't even seem remotely bothered by Shadow's tone.

"So I can waste more time that could be spent actually being productive? I won't come." The sentence had started in an almost mocking tone, but by the end it had turned cold.

"Shadow, if you leave this room your parents will hear about this," the teacher sighed, rubbing his temples.

"My mum's going to know the second I get home, so what does it matter?"

"Fine," and just like that he went back to teaching his lecture, without another glance at Shadow. Shadow was stunned, that was it? He wasn't going to say anything else? Mr. Jenkins had never given in so easily. The sound of murmuring caught his attention and he turned to the rest of the class, they seemed to be whispering about him, a few even seemed to be laughing. Shadow was taken aback, this wasn't right...

"Class," Mr. Jenkins cleared his throat. "Simmer down. Shadow, I thought you were leaving?"

"Whatever," he muttered, hoping his cheeks weren't as flushed as they felt. With one final glare at his classmates, Shadow left.

When Shadow got home his mum was on the phone, so he quietly kissed her coppery cheek, before heading to his room. He knew it was the school she was talking too. He wasn't worried, Azizi wanted her son to be happy, and wanted him to be able to make his own mistakes.

By the time there was a knock at Shadow's door, he had calmed down considerably. "Come in," he called, prompting Azizi to poke her head in.

"Hayaati, the school called. Your teachers were very mad with you."

"It's not my fault they don't have anything new to offer me," Shadow shrugged.

"Maybe so, but if you could at least pretend to be interested. They are thinking of expelling you. I want you to have a good future, and if you are expelled…" Shadow smiled up at his mum for a moment before pulling her down to sit next to him.

"I'll be fine, mum, you'll see. I'll finish high school, go to med school, and be a doctor."

"You can be whatever you want, and I will be proud of you," she replied automatically. After a moment she sighed. "You are not going to be very happy, but since it might get you more chances…"

Shadow stiffened, "What did the school ask?"

"You are smart, Shadow, they have asked if you could tutor as a punishment. I agreed to it, so tomorrow, you need to go down to the main office and find out who your student is going to be. They will give you a name, address, and the days and times you will be tutoring for." Shadow opened his mouth to protest, but his mum cut him off. "Please son, I do not ask much of you. Please, just do this for me." There was a moment of strained silence.

"Okay mum," Shadow finally sighed. "If it will make you feel better, I'll tutor someone."

* * *

Some notes

Azizi is a common Egyptian female name, at least the baby name site I checked said so. So, yes, Shadow's mum is Egyptian. As well, after doing some research, I've been lead to believe that hayaati is an Arabic term of endearment meaning "my life", apologies if I am mistaken.

I hope you enjoyed this, and please if you have any notes, tell me. I'd love to hear what you guys did and did not like for future reference. If I never get criticism, how will I improve as a writer?

Well, this has been a prologue. I'm pretty busy this month, but the first Chapter should be up sometimes in the next few weeks?


	2. Chapter 1

Amy woke up with a stretch Wednesday morning. Quickly she got out of bed and proceeded to go about her morning routine of shower, get dressed, do her hair, eat breakfast, brush her teeth, and head out the door. Once she was in the hall, she went to the apartment next to hers and knocked on the door. Her and Cream had been neighbours their entire lives.

"Amy," Cream greeted warmly as she opened the door. "Just getting my shoes on and then we can head out." Years of going to school together had eventually led to them being ready at nearly the exact same time.

Once Amy's younger friend had gotten her shoes on, the two headed off to school, meeting Sonia about a block away.

"Where are your brothers?" Amy enquired, it wasn't often that neither of Sonia's brothers would walk with them.

"Manic slept in, so he's still getting ready. Sonic, on the other hand, left early so he could walk with a friend."

"Oh, that's too bad..." Amy sighed. She loved walking to school with Sonic, and she wouldn't be able to walk home with him; he was almost always busy. "Did Sonic mention anything about this Friday to you?"

"Not really, why?" Sonia asked.

"No reason, I just thought he might have, is all."

"Why would Sonic ever tell me about his plans? Unless... do you have plans with my brother?" Sonia had stopped walking and was staring accusingly at Amy.

"I, uh... is that a problem?"

Sonia shook her head and resumed walking. "Not really, I'm just surprised, is all. No offence, but you're not really his type."

"I'm his type," Amy whispered. "He just hasn't realized it yet." She hoped that by speaking the words, maybe it would make them true. She desperately wanted Sonic to realize that Amy was perfect for him.

The three girls made it to school five minutes before the bell rang, nothing exciting really happened all day. At lunch she asked Mr. Daniels about her tutor, but he said they wouldn't know for sure until the next day, and to come back then.

In Home Ec. they were learning a new recipe, which was exciting. Tomorrow they would be making caramel cheesecake.

After school Amy headed home with Cream, and the two did their homework together before dinner.

Thursday passed much the same as Wednesday, except for two events. The first being Amy finding out that her tutor would be coming over Tuesdays and Thursdays from three to five, starting next week. Apparently his name was Shadow Bassili. The second event was during one of the locker breaks, when she ran into Sonic.

Amy had been running late, so as she ran around a corner she bumped into someone, knocking them both down in the process. "Oh, I'm so sorry, ah... are you okay? Oh, oh Sonic! Oh my gosh I swear it was an accident, I-"

"Hey no worries, Amy. You were in a rush, these things happened," Sonic cut in, good-naturedly. Sonic was back on his feet quite quickly, and offered his hand to Amy to help her up. Once Amy was on his feet, Sonic grinned. "Seeya," he said, turning to go.

"Wait, Sonic," Amy called, stopping him.

"What's up, Ames?"

"Are we still going to Twinkle Park Friday?" Amy couldn't stop wringing her hands while she waited for an answer.

"Sure, six, right?" Sonic replied, much to Amy's relief.

"Yeah, six."

"Okay, see you then." Then he was off, and Amy realized she was going to be super late.

Amy got to her last class of the day in time, and had a lot of fun making caramel cheesecake. At the end of the day, they got to take their food home, and Amy was looking forwards to treating her parents to dessert.

The next day was Friday and, Amy was too nervous and distracted to get much done. She just couldn't stop thinking of her date with Sonic.

When school ended, Amy rushed home to get ready for her big date. She pushed her hair back with a red hairband, and wore the new outfit she'd bought just for the occasion. A red halter-dress with white trim, and some matching boots. She redid her makeup, and then proceeded to spend the next three hours fretting over how she looked before it was time to head out.

She got to Twinkle Park about fifteen minutes early, and her heart was racing. Amy had to remind herself that she could do this, deep breaths in and out. Just breathe. She had known Sonic most of her life, she could do this.

Twenty minutes passed, and there was no sign of Sonic. That was alright though, he wouldn't forget, something just came up. That was it. He would be here soon, and they would have the perfect date. Everything would be fine, and then Sonic would tell her he loved her, and they would live happily ever after. Amy focused on her breathing, everything was going to be fine.

After another twenty minutes, Amy was about ready to leave. With a sad sigh, she got up and started heading back to her apartment.

"Amy! Wait!" Amy felt her heart speed up, she turned around, and there he was, long legs carrying him quickly towards her. When he got to her side he doubled over, panting. "I am... so... sorry, Amy. There was... an accident... had to... take my friend to... hospital," Sonic gasped, between breaths.

"Oh Sonic!" Amy cried, throwing herself at the blue-haired boy. "I knew there must have been a reason! I mean, you wouldn't just forget about me, you're not like that. I'm so sorry I ever doubted you! Do you want anything? I'm sorry!"

"Air!" Sonic gasped, pushing Amy off of him. After only a few moments, he'd caught his breath. "Shall we head in?" he asked, offering his arm.

"Yes!" Amy all but squealed, grabbing Sonic's arm and practically dragging him to the park in her excitement. "Oh, Sonic, this is going to be the best date ever!"

"Date? I don't... this isn't... we're not..." but Amy didn't seem to here any of his protests.

"So what do you want to ride first, Sonic?" Amy's voice gushed with hope and affection.

"We could... bumper cars?" Sonic suggested, in a voice that was just a little too high.

"Sonic, what a brilliant idea! But, I should have expected as much from you."

"Uhh..." before Sonic could collect his thoughts enough to say anything else, Amy was dragging him to the bumper cars, looking back at Sonic every few minutes with a huge smile. Sonic weakly smiled back, but anyone could see that he was uncomfortable. Anyone except Amy, that is. Amy was having the time of her life.

After the bumper cars, Amy lead Sonic to the roller coaster, the swings, a cotton candy stand, a photo booth, and finally the Ferris Wheel.

"Isn't this romantic?" Amy asked, with a dreamy sigh.

"I guess," Sonic said with an awkward shrug.

"Sonic, can I tell you something?"

"Ah, Amy..." Sonic didn't know what to say. He didn't want to hurt the girl, after all. But, he was afraid he knew what was coming.

"Sonic, I love you," Amy sighed, leaning in. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

Sonic stiffened, "well..."

"Yes?"

"I..."

"Yes?"

"I mean... that is to say..."

"Sonic?" Amy's eyes were wide, with hope, and fear. She had put her cards on the table, and she hoped so badly that it hadn't been a mistake.

"Uh... sure?" Amy squealed, launching herself at Sonic, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing up against him and wiggling her toes.

"Sonic! Ah, I'm so glad! This is the happiest day of my life!" Sonic uncomfortably put his arms around the pink haired girl, with an internal groan. Just what had he gotten himself into?

Eventually Sonic walked Amy home, with an awkward hug when they parted. He wasn't really sure what to do, he had never felt so out of his element before.

Amy spent the rest of her weekend doing homework and studying, as she had promised; but what had seemed an undesirable option before was now completely worth it, Sonic was her boyfriend now! Amy could not stop smiling.

EARLIER IN THE WEEK

Shadow sat at his desk, painting a mini figure. He enjoyed the task, the dexterity needed to get in all the tiny details was good practise, but also mindless enough that he was able to think about more important matters. At that moment he was focused on the earlier events of the day, why had he been so bothered by Mr. Jenkins giving up on him? Most people he met gave up on him. While it was true that his math teacher had seen a potential in Shadow for longer than the others, that shouldn't have made such a big difference. It didn't help that he had humiliated Shadow in front of his classmates, an entirely new concept to Shadow.

A knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts, and with a sigh, he put down the figure he had been working on and went to get the door.

"Hello handsome, did you know you're the talk of the school?" was the greeting he got.

"Hello Rouge," Shadow's tone was unimpressed. Honestly, Rouge was Shadow's only real friend. The two had spent a lot of time in detention together in middle school, and had just sort of wound up being friends. There was a lot more to the white haired girl than most people realized; she was clever and calculating, and she knew how to get what she wanted. Over the years, Rouge had made other friends and started spending less and less time with Shadow, but still they remained friends. These days, Rouge swung by every Thursday to check up on her old friend, and the two would usually watch a movie while catching up on their personal lives. The catching up, of course, mostly consisted of Rouge's life, since Shadow never really went out or talked to people. And when he did have new news, he was pretty sure Rouge had already heard it from one of her friends.

"What are you doing here? Unless I am mistaken, it's still Tuesday."

"Shadow," Rouge's voice was soft, her usual playful tone gone. "I worry about you. What happened today? I know what everyone else is saying, but I want to hear it from you, rather than third hand from some kid who wasn't there."

"The class was boring so I left," Shadow could hear the edge in his voice, he really didn't want to talk about it.

"That's not the whole truth, what happened?"

"It's no big deal, Rouge."

"Shadow, tell me."

With an exasperated sigh, Shadow stepped out of the doorway to let Rouge in, and went to sit on the couch. "I decided to go home, and Mr. Jenkins dismissed me like I was nothing, honestly, that's it."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Rouge acknowledged, settling on the couch next to him. "But it must have been frustrating."

Shadow opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. "Yeah, but I'm used to it."

After a moment's silence, Shadow's curvy companion smirked. "So, what's your punishment this time? I still think my favourite was when they had you join choir thinking being in a non-aggressive team would somehow calm you down."

Shadow laughed at the memory, it had been an absurd notion on the school's part, and he had hated every minute of it. "No, I think they're done with making me join courses and clubs," Shadow chuckled, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. "This time they want me to tutor someone."

"Well, that should be an experience," Rouge cackled, though Shadow didn't think it was that funny. "Who's the victim?"

"I fail to see how someone could be considered a victim just because I am their tutor."

"They're going to be bad at something you're good at, and odds are you won't have the patience for dealing with them."

"I can be patient," Shadow huffed. "Anyways, I have no idea who it is, or even which course. I find out tomorrow."

"Well, best of luck with that. Anyways, I brought a movie, in case you wanted to watch?"

"Which movie?" normally they traded off picking movies, and this week was supposed to be Shadow's week, but it wasn't really movie night. Shadow just hoped it wasn't another Chao in Space 7, because while he was all for terrible movies for the sake of terrible movies, Chao in Space 7 was so bad it passed the "so bad it's good" point, and went back to just being bad.

"I thought we could watch the Karate Chao." Shadow smiled, that had been the first movie they'd watched together, and he had been incredibly skeptical at the time, but he had enjoyed the underdog story more than expected.

Wednesday passed by pretty uneventfully. Shadow went to his courses and did his work, at lunch time he joined Manic behind the gym, and settled into his usual routine. Manic's story of the day was about the time he had engineered a hover board, which to Shadow's understanding was just a hovering skateboard.

Eventually, Shadow had to cut Manic off. "How is it that every time I see you, you have a new story?"

The green-haired boy shrugged, "what can I say, I lead a very full life." Shadow frowned, a full was one thing, but this was another. He suspected Manic was making some, if not all, of his stories up.

After lunch, Shadow headed to math, where he avoided eye contact with everybody and took his seat. He finished his worksheet quickly, and spent the remainder of the class trying to figure out how one would successfully make a hover board. On the off chance his lunch partner had actually done what he claimed and made one, Shadow was sure he could do it too. By the end of class he had filled three pages with notes and concept diagrams.

After math was PE, probably Shadow's favourite course. Sure, it was still easy for him, but it was more involved. Mondays and Tuesdays the class would go over new techniques and practise older ones for whatever their current unit was, Wednesdays were runs, Thursdays were spent refining skills, and Fridays were game days. A simple schedule, but one that seemed to help a lot of his classmates improve. Having a run in the middle of the week, rather than beginning or end, was supposed to ease the tedium of doing the same things all the time.

Today was a nice day, so they were running in the forest by the school, rather than the indoor or outdoor tracks. As the students stretched, the Coach started pairing people up based on their average run speeds on the tracks, this was mainly a safety precaution, in case someone got hurt in the forest. As usual, Shadow found himself paired with the track team's star athlete, Sonic. Sonic was the only student faster than Shadow, and he never seemed to break a sweat, as a result Shadow considered him a rival.

Once they were given the okay to start, Shadow and Sonic quickly outpaced the other students. Shadow felt the adrenaline hit, running felt wonderful, free. Shadow didn't hold back, running as fast as he could sustainably go.

"You're good," his blue haired companion noted. "I think you should reconsider your previous decision regarding the track team, we could really use your speed."

Shadow grunted, "the team has you, they're fine."

"I'm just one guy," Sonic protested. "I can't singlehandedly carry the team."

"You've done fine so far," Shadow pointed out, a little frustrated that Sonic didn't seem to be having any trouble while Shadow was going all out.

"Maybe, but Regionals are coming up. Having you on the team would guarantee us a spot in Nationals."

"I'll consider it, but I have prior commitments."

The blue haired boy grinned, "that's still better than a no. Shadow, if you join, you won't be sorry."

Eventually on one of their laps the coach gestured for them to come in. "You two are amazing, but it's nearly time to head back. While I'm sure you guys could do another lap, I'd rather have you wait." Shadow slumped to the ground gratefully, he always ran much harder than he should in the forest, trying to outdo Sonic. As Shadow sat on the ground breathing heavily, Sonic grabbed a spare water-bottle he always seemed to bring and tossed it to Shadow.

"Drink up, you earned it."

After a quick shower in the changing room, Shadow quickly put his regular clothes back on and headed to Homeroom. Homeroom was the same as always, the teacher checked off that you were still there, then reminded everyone of the upcoming events that the students should get forms in for. After that it was to the office to find out who he would be tutoring.

"Ah, Shadow, come in," the secretary greeted. "What seems to be the problem today?"

"I was told to come here and find out who I will be tutoring."

"Yes, yes. Just a second, let me find it..." after a few moments of looking around her desk, the secretary triumphantly held up a piece of paper. "You are to tutor an Amelia Rose in history, Tuesdays and Thursdays from three pm to five pm. You start next week. It says here she prefers to be called Amy."

"Tuesdays and Thursdays, three to five, Amelia Rose, History. Got it," Shadow confirmed, before turning to go.

"Wait," the secretary called after Shadow, as he headed out the door. "You need the address."

Shadow froze in place and waited. "Well?" he urged, when it became clear the secretary was waiting on him.

"Ah, um, she lives in unit 703 at 614 7th Street, down by the Twinkle Park area."

Shadow grunted his acknowledgement and left.

Upon arriving home, Shadow went straight to his room where he started work on some prototype hoverskates, having decided that they would be more practical for him than a hover board. Hoverskates he could walk normally in, and wouldn't have to carry, nor would falling off be a real concern.

Shadow opted to stay home Thursday, working on his hoverskates, but around one thirty he took a break and headed to school so he could meet Rouge when Homeroom ended at five after two. He expected Rouge to be a little late coming out, because she liked to dawdle after school, talking to friends, but Shadow preferred to be punctual anyways. As expected, Rouge didn't actually come out until two fifteen.

"Late as always, Rouge," Shadow teased with a smirk.

"But still you wait, you're so well trained," Rouge's voice was honey, slow and sweet.

Shadow made a derisive, grunting noise, then looked expectantly at his friend. "Are you ready?"

"Of course, so what are we watching today?"

"I was thinking we could watch Cry of the Werehog."

"Isn't that from like the forties?" Rouge wondered.

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"I'm not a fan of old movies," she reminded Shadow.

"Well, I'm not a fan of romantic comedies, and you don't see me complaining."

"Fair enough."

As the two walked to Shadow's house, Rouge asked him about who he would be tutoring. "A girl named Amelia Rose," Shadow answered.

"Amy?" Rouge seemed thoughtful.

"You know her?"

"Yeah, she's Sonia's friend. She has a tendency to talk too much, and I'm pretty sure you'll find her tiring. Try not to be too hard on her though, she's a nice girl." Shadow grunted in response, and Rouge changed the subject. She began talking about her week, and her upcoming beach trip.

When they got to Shadow's place, they plugged in Silence of the Lambs, and once it was over Azizi made them dinner. Rouge left after eating, and Shadow went back to working on his hoverskates until his mum convinced him to go to bed.

On Friday Azizi made Shadow go to school and get all the work he missed the prior day. The day passed by with no real incidents, and as soon as school let out Shadow ran home to continue working on his skates. They were nearly ready for testing and Shadow couldn't wait, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this excited about something.

After about an hour of working, he felt they were ready to be tested. "I'm going out for a bit, mum, I'll be back before dinner," he called over his shoulder as he headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" Azizi called after him.

"Just taking a walk, don't worry about it!"

"Stay safe, hayaati!" he heard as he shut the door behind him. Then he headed off to a less busy street, and put on his new skates. They were only a little bit bulkier than regular shoes, and were activated by a switch by his toes. Shadow started off by running to gain speed, then once he felt he was going fast enough, he flipped the toe switch and began sliding his legs, like you're supposed to when skating. The bottom of the shoes flared to life, and he found himself flying along at a speed he'd never before dreamed of.

As the wind caught his hair, Shadow found himself grinning, this was a wonderful feeling. The feeling was short lived, however, as one of his skates stalled, and his foot hit the ground unexpectedly. The impact caught him off guard, and he tripped, hitting the ground hard and skidding several meters before coming to a stop. Shadow laid there for several minutes, trying to catch his breath. Everything hurt and he felt... wet? No, that wasn't right, it wasn't raining, so why would he bet wet?

After what felt like an eternity, Shadow heard someone approaching, and started trying to get up. "Shadow?" a familiar voice called, it sounded kind of distant. "Shadow are you okay?" his vision started blurring as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Shadow you need to stop moving, you're going to hurt yourself." Shadow felt hands pushing him back down, but that didn't seem right. He again tried to sit up, but was firmly pushed back down. "Shadow, I'm going to get some help, so stay right here." Shadow looked to the source of the voice. A blue-haired boy was kneeling over him. The blue haired boy ran off faster than Shadow would have expected.

Shadow's eyes felt heavy, he wanted to sleep. A voice in his head was telling him that to sleep would be a bad idea, so he started working out what had gone wrong in his head.

Eventually the blue-haired boy returned with someone else. "Shadow, we're going to take you to the hospital," he explained, as the other person, a younger boy with fluffy ginger hair, helped get Shadow onto Sonic's back. Shadow was pretty sure it was Sonic, he didn't know anyone else with blue hair who could run like that. After a moment of adjusting, Sonic took off, piggybacking Shadow.

At the ER they ran several tests, and determined that ultimately Shadow was fine. He had some road rash, and had lost a bit of blood, but he didn't have a concussion, and didn't need stitches. They said he had gotten very lucky, and kept asking what Shadow had been doing. They were skeptical of his claim to have tripped while running.

After determining that Shadow was fine, Sonic said he had somewhere to be, and ran off. Shadow wondered if there was ever a time when that kid didn't run.

Eventually, Azizi came to get Shadow. When she got to his room she rushed over to his bed and pulled him into her arms. "Oh hayaati, you worry me so. What were you doing? I thought you said you were going for a walk."

"Mum, relax," Shadow gasped, trying to get her to loosen her grip. "I was running and I tripped, that's it."

"You run too fast, hayaati. You need to be more careful."

When they got home, Shadow went to his room, wanting to figure out what had gone wrong. Eventually he determined that one of the wires had simply short circuited, and went about figuring out a way to prevent that from happening again.

Shadow ran through the metallic corridors, making sure not to let go of his companions hand. He was younger, maybe nine or ten. A glance behind him showed that she was struggling to keep this pace, but he didn't slow. Just a little further, they only had a little further to go. They would be there soon, the control room was in sight. As they made it through the doors, the girl tripped, and he lost his grip on her hand. His momentum carried him an extra few steps; when he managed to stop, and turn around, she was at a control panel, her blond hair messy with sweat. He saw the men with guns coming and went to intercept them, but a glass tube crashed down around him, she had hit the button.

"Shadow, please. I beg of you, do it for me... for all the people who live on that planet." As she said this, the tube he was in began to eject, the last thing he saw were the bullets tearing through her chest.

"Maria!" Shadow screamed, sitting up with a start. There were tears in his eyes and he was short of breath. It took only a few seconds for Azizi to rush into his room.

"You had the dream again," it was not a question, and her tone was sad. Shadow nodded. Ever since he could remember, he had been having this dream. He had it less often now, but it still came every few weeks. "Dreams can not hurt you," Azizi soothed, pulling her son close and rubbing his back.

Shadow grunted. It hadn't felt like a dream, it never did. It felt real, and it hurt to remember. Shadow pulled away from his mother, and went to the kitchen to get some tea. He watched as the water boiled, watched the bubbles fight to the surface, trying to break free. He often felt trapped, though he couldn't say why. Azizi let him do what he want, and he wasn't limited by any personal inability to do things, so the trapped feeling made no sense. Eventually he poured the water into the mug, letting the herbs mix in and flavour it, adding some honey and milk for sweetness.

Shadow spent the rest of the weekend refining the hoverskates and working on homework, generally keeping his mind occupied. By Monday it was as if the dream had never happened. He remembered it, yes, but it was now just that, a memory of a dream, nothing important.

* * *

That came out a lot sooner than I expected, though it was already partially done by the time I posted the prologue .

The next Chapter might take a bit longer, as I leave to visit my mum and sisters for 10 days next week. I will try to get a chapter up before then, but I can't promise anything.

Feel free to tell me what you did and did not like, so I can take note of it for future chapters. Constructive criticism is good. (Though keep in mind if you come across as "I dislike this entire genre and hate your story because of its genre" I will probably not take you seriously, as that is not constructive.)

If you have any questions, because something did not make sense to you, I will be happy to answer them, so long as the answer wouldn't constitute as spoilers :)


	3. Chapter 2 part 1

Monday morning came, and Amy found herself up nearly an hour before her alarm. She hadn't been able to sleep much, as she was too excited at the prospect of entering the school holding Sonic's hand. She imagined people staring as they sauntered in, and whispering. They would all be blown away by how cute the new couple was, and be jealous of the love so clearly resonating between them. And then it would come time for class, and as they parted Sonic would lean in and kiss her cheek, telling her he'd miss her. Yes, Amy was sure of it, today was going to be perfect!

Because today was going to be so important, Amy spent longer than usual picking an outfit and doing her hair. But once she was ready she really couldn't wait, so she bolted into the hallway and knocked on Cream's door. A very surprised looking Cream answered the door after several impatient moments on Amy's part.

"Amy? I wasn't expecting you quite yet, I haven't even eaten."

"I couldn't wait, I'm just so excited to get to school!" Amy enthused, causing Cream to give her a concerned look.

"Are you feeling well, Amy?"

"Of course, I've never felt this good. Life is perfect, and I can't wait to see everyone."

"Is this about your date with Sonic? Did it go well?"

"Yes," Amy squealed. "Now, hurry up and eat."

By the time Cream had finished her breakfast, grabbed her lunch-kit and backpack, and donned her shoes and coat, half an hour had passed and they were leaving at the same time as they usually did. Amy was dancing on the spot as she waited, she had so much energy she could barely stand it.

As the two girls headed out and went to meet Sonia, Amy filled Cream in on all the details about her date. Cream smiled politely, and made the occasional admiring acknowledgement. When they came to the corner where they always met Sonia and her brothers, she was disappointed to see that Sonic wasn't there.

"Hey Sonia, hey Manic," Amy and Cream greeted in unison.

"Hey Amy, hey Cream," Sonia replied at the same time as Manic replied with "Ladies."

"Where's Sonic?" Amy wanted to know.

"Oh, he left early again to walk with a friend," Sonia answered, tucking her Magenta hair behind an ear as the four started walking towards the school.

"Oh, I had hoped he would be here..."

"You did?" Sonic's sister sounded surprised.

"Of course, I mean, he is my boyfriend after all! Didn't he tell you?"

"No, he failed to mention it..." Sonia's tone was thoughtful, and she seemed distracted.

"Oh, I guess he wanted it to be a surprise then, I shouldn't have said anything," Amy said in an apologetic tone. She hadn't meant to ruin the surprise, she was just so happy.

"Yeah, something like that," Sonia agreed, but she didn't sound convinced.

The group approached the school as the bell rang, and everyone headed their separate ways for class. Amy had physics first, which was probably her best subject. Today was a lecture day, though, so mostly she just listened and took notes.

Amy didn't actually see Sonic until lunch break, but when she did she ran across the room and threw her arms around him.

"Sonic!" she cried out. "I missed you this morning! Honestly, I missed you all weekend! Did you miss me?"

"Oh, hey Amy," Sonic called back, stiffening. "Uh, of course I missed you?" he answered, gently trying to disentangle the young girl from himself. Nearby a kid with crimson dreadlocks was laughing at the scene. "What's so funny, knucklehead?" Sonic wanted to know.

"You seem to be having lady trouble, Sonic," the boy laughed.

"Shut up, Knuckles. You're just jealous because you wish girls would fall all over you," Sonic's tone was almost mocking.

"What? I have plenty of girls falling for me, but unlike you, I don't flaunt it!" the dreadlocked boy, Knuckles, protested.

"Is that so?" a flirtatious voice asked from behind him. Knuckles turned to see Rouge leaning on the table, smirking at him.

"Rouge? I, err, of course it is!" Knuckles insisted, but his voice was cracking a little, and there was sweat forming on his brow.

"So if I were to cancel our movie plans on Friday..?" the white-haired girl teased.

Amy turned her attention back to Sonic as Knuckles began protesting what Rouge was saying. "Want to walk me home after school today, just me and you?" she asked, causing Sonic to give a weak smile.

"Ahh, you know I'd love to. But, ah, I have plans, you see." Sonic hoped he sounded convincing.

"Oh that's too bad, what are your plans?" Amy asked with a pout.

"Oh, uh, just some things. And stuff. You know." Sonic hoped his chuckle didn't sound too forced.

"Ah, I gotcha, things. Right." Amy didn't for the life of her have a clue as to what Sonic's plans could be, but she didn't want him to think she was ignorant of his hobbies, then he might think she didn't care about him, and that would just be awful. A short while later, the bell rang for class, and Amy headed off, meeting Blaze in the hall.

"I saw you with Sonic in the lunchroom, does this mean you two are an item?" the purple haired girl enquired.

"Yeah," Amy answered with a grin. "Yeah, we're a couple now." Her tone was bliss, Amy could not get over it. Sonic, star of the track team, was dating her. Her! It was still incredibly overwhelming.

The rest of the day passed without too much incident, and Amy wound up walking home with Cream and Manic, Sonia having other plans.

"I'm not too sure how I feel about you dating my brother," Manic confessed, earning a distressed look from Cream.

"What, am I not good enough for him?" Cream opened her mouth to placate Amy, when Manic cut her off.

"No, no, it's just... Amy you're like a sister to us. And I'm not sure Sonic is right for you, to be honest. He-"

"You're wrong," Amy cut in. "Sonic is perfect for me, and if you really think of me as a sister you should be happy for me." Trying again, Cream opened her mouth, but whatever she said was drowned out by the green-haired boy's voice.

"Amy, I'm glad you're happy, but... I just don't want you getting hurt." Again, Cream sent a distressed look Manic's way.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Manic, but you're worrying about nothing. Sonic wouldn't hurt me, I think you're letting your own personal discomfort cloud your judgement." Cream squirmed, opening her mouth again in an attempt to speak.

"Amy..." Manic started, but trailed off as Cream grabbed his wrist, when he turned to her she shook her head a little and subtly mouthed 'not now', before dropping the older boys arm.

"Manic," Cream spoke up. "Did you ever manage to finish that hover board you were talking about?" Cream asked, giving him a pleading look as she attempted to change the subject.

Manic opened his mouth to ask Cream what the problem was, thought better of it, and answered the question at hand. "Yeah, there's still a few bugs, but for the most part she flies like a dream," he said with a smile, relaxing into a more casual posture.

Amy didn't seem to notice the silent interaction Cream and Manic had exchanged before the topic change occurred, as she had been too distracted by her own thoughts; most of which had revolved around her offence at Manic's selfish discomfort. Couldn't he see that her and Sonic were happy? But she couldn't help but be in awe of Manic's technological skills, building your own hover board didn't seem like an easy feat.

"You'll show us sometime, won't you?" Amy hoped he would, seeing a hover board might be almost as exciting as seeing Sonic, Amy admitted to herself.

"Oh please, won't you Manic?" Cream asked, in voice rich with excitement. Cream loved the idea of being able to fly, she even had a flight helmet in her room, though she hid it when she had friends over. Amy wouldn't have been surprised if Cream had tried to convince Manic to let her ride the hover board.

"Sure, why don't you guys swing by tonight and I'll take her for a test run," Manic suggested as they neared the intersection the three would separate at.

"Really? If you don't mind then that would be lovely," Cream enthused, turning to Amy. "Could we?"

Amy laughed, "You know, you can go without me."

"Oh, I don't know that I could..." the small girl trailed off.

"I'll be testing at six tonight, so swing by a little before then if you're interested," Manic suggested with a wink for Cream. Cream just squeaked in response, stepping back a little and raising her hands to her chin, her eyes wide with surprise. Manic just laughed, "Ladies," he said for a farewell, turning and walking off on his own.

The next day at school, Amy found her thoughts torn between getting to see Sonic run today, and remembering the night before. Around six, Amy and Cream had found themselves watching Manic test out his hover board. Amy had gone partially to keep Cream company, partially out of curiosity, and partially, she admitted, in the hopes of seeing Sonic. Sonic and Sonia had turned out to still be out, but Amy had wound up having fun anyways. Manic started off by doing a bit of low flying, making sure the board was stable, then he went higher and tried out some fancier moves.

After maybe half an hour, Aleena, mother of Sonic and his siblings, had come out with some refreshments for Amy, Cream, and Manic. The three ate quickly, and then Manic offered each of the girls a ride on his board. Amy had refused, but Cream jumped right on the opportunity. The girls had left around eight, as Sonia came home. There had been no sign of Sonic, but Amy was less disappointed than she would have expected.

The sound of the bell ringing brought Amy out of her memories, and she quickly gathered her things, then headed off to her next class.

Time passed agonizingly slow for Amy, and by lunch it felt like she had been at school for a week, just waiting to get through her morning classes. After she and her friends had finished eating, they headed for the bleachers overlooking the paved track, as they did every Tuesday. When they got there, Amy waved at Sonic, calling down to him. Sonic, waved back and then proceeded to focus on what he was doing, and ignore the various things Amy was shouting to him.

Eventually the bell rang, indicating five minutes until class resumed and the track team headed in to change and wash up. Amy wanted to go give Sonic a hug and tell him how amazing he was, but Blaze reminded her that they had a class to get to themselves.

School ended, and Amy and Cream walked home together with Sonia and Manic. Apparently Sonic was busy again. Not too long after Amy got home, her apartment's buzzer went off, reminding Amy that she had a tutor coming. Amidst all the thinking of Sonic, she had completely forgotten.

Amy picked up the receiver to answer the buzz. "Hello, who is it?" she greeted.

"Hello, my name is Shadow. I'm here to tutor an Amelia Rose in History," a velvety voice answered.

"Ah, come right up," Amy replied, buzzing him in. It didn't take long for a knock to come at the door, announcing that Shadow had found her unit. Amy opened her door to see an older boy with coppery tan skin, thick black hair, and crimson eyes. His black hair was wavy and flicked up at the ends, and it had streaks of red through it.

"Amelia, I presume," was the boy's greeting.

"Ah, I prefer Amy," Amy stammered, as she stepped aside to let him in.

* * *

Apologies for the short chapter, I haven't completely finished Shadow's part, but I'm leaving for a week tomorrow and I wanted to give you guys something.

So hopefully next week I can get the other part finished and touched up.

Thanks for reading, and I guess you guys can look forward to Amy and Shadow actually meeting?

Let me know what you did and did not like :3


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